


25 Years Earlier...

by Bizarra



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, I'm writing fluff again, Prequel, Yes I actually wrote honest to goodness smut, only one champagne bottle was injured in the writing of this story, this time with smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 09:48:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20062036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bizarra/pseuds/Bizarra
Summary: Just how did Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay end up married. Prequel/Sequel to Feeling Good.





	25 Years Earlier...

**Author's Note:**

> This story spawned from a line in my previous story, Feeling Good. 
> 
> For Manalyzer. You finally got smut out of me. ;)
> 
> This is my third and final story for the JC Photo Prompt fic fest. I'm getting it in under the wire!

Inspired by these Photos:  
  
And is inspired by and a prequel of: Feeling Good

Kathryn had had enough of watching everyone be happy, excited to be home, and finished with their debriefings. Oh, she was also glad, but going from ‘we’ll get home in thirty years’ to ‘we’re home in less than a day’ had been jarring to her system and she still hadn’t recovered. On top of that, the one thing she depended on; that she’d always looked toward; her guiding star - other than her home planet - had abandoned her at the time she’d most needed it. PetaQ!

Voyager had burst through the remains of a Borg sphere into the very lap of Starfleet. Her home - the one she’d been going toward since the day they’d met - hadn’t been at her side. As promised, by the way. Instead, he’d been standing with his new, well... Hell, she didn’t know what to call it. Fling? Love affair? Mid-life crisis?

Kathryn gave an undignified, sarcastic snort and walked through the doors to one of the small conference rooms outside the ballroom. She needed to get away from the jubilant crowd because she was feeling anything but. Kathryn was already three sheets to the wind and, thanks to the bottle of champagne she’d snatched off the tray of a surprised waiter as she passed him, she intended to get blind, stinking drunk. She would regret it in the morning, but, for now, she needed to stop wallowing. If they found Voyager’s celebrated Captain passed out in a conference room the next day, well, said captain was past the point of caring.

Kathryn tilted the full bottle up and took a swig. She heard the door ease closed behind her and walked to a chair near the back of the room. Kathryn sat, undignified, given the formal dress she wore, and slammed the bottle onto the table with a ragged sigh.

She had seen little of him tonight. A good thing, or she'd be far drunker than she was. She also hadn’t seen much of his arm candy, either. She growled. Of all the fucking people on board the ship, why her? Why the one person she’d taken under her wing and mentored; treated like a damned daughter, for fuck’s sake. She blinked back threatening tears.

Kathryn took another large drink and stood to walk to the window. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass and closed her eyes. Now, she was getting maudlin and, for God’s sake, she didn’t need that. She turned to grab the bottle and, with a sudden jolt, realized she was no longer alone.

Three guesses who it was. The first two don’t count.

“What the hell do you want?” she seethed.

“I saw you leave and worried about you,” he had the gall to say.

“Oh, now you’re worried about me?” Her eyes flashed. “Well, don’t fucking bother, Chakotay. I’m just peachy.” She grabbed the champagne and took another drink. “You can leave now.” Kathryn gestured, turned back toward the window, and thunked the bottle down on the sill.

She glanced up at the clear pane and, in reflection, saw he was still standing there. Kathryn grunted. “Don’t you have a date to get back to?” she spat.

“No. I don’t,” he said with a soft wistfulness.

“Aww, what’s the matter,” she replied with heavy sarcasm in her voice, “did your girlfriend dump you for someone younger?” She finished the sentence with venom in her voice.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked in a harsh tone. 

Really? He had to ask?

Kathryn waved her arm as if to dismiss him and held the bottle tighter. 

She watched, through the image in the glass, as he stepped closer. He abruptly grabbed the bottle she held and took his own drink. It was then that she realized that he was just as sober as she was. 

Which was to say: not even remotely.

She huffed and walked away from him. His closeness was not doing her any favors, much to her annoyance. Her damned body was even betraying her. She flopped down into a chair, tangling her feet in the voluminous midnight-blue skirt of the a-line dress she wore. “I’m glad you know what it feels like, now.”

“What what feels like?” he snapped, confusion written on his face. His gorgeous, entirely kissable face.

She slammed her hand on the table, _ For fuck’s sake, Kathryn, _ she chided herself. She leaned forward and snatched the bottle from his hand. “What it feels like to be thrown over for the first pretty young thing that comes along.” She took a deep swig. “One that you didn’t like to begin with, I might add.”

He dropped into the chair across from hers. “Kathryn, we didn’t get past some meals together and a few kisses.”

Kathryn rolled her eyes and inhaled. “What? No empty promises? You’re good at those.” She backed her chair away. His nearness was too much. She could smell his aftershave and the utter familiarity of it was hitting a little too close to home.

She laughed bitterly. Oh, the fucking irony.

She stood and moved to a different table. Or, at least, she started to, but her heel caught in one layer of her skirt and she pitched forward. He, of course, caught her. 

Okay, so he might be a little soberer than she was. Kathryn pushed out of his arms and turned, needing to get as far away from him as possible.

“When did I break a promise to you, Kathryn?” he slurred. “I did everything for you.”

She turned on him, her eyes narrowing into an angry, guarded glare. She seethed: “The angry warrior swore to himself that he would stay by her side, doing whatever he could to make her burden lighter. From that point on, her needs would come first.” She advanced on him. “Where were you? When I needed you the most? When we reached home, so rapidly that it threw my equilibrium; so much so it’s still fucked up! Where were you, my angry warrior?” She grabbed the bottle and took a deep drink, then coughed as the sharp bubbles fizzed down her throat. “It sure as hell wasn’t by my side!”

He at least had the grace to look guilty. For a second. Then his face reddened, and he exploded.

“I did everything I could to keep my promises! And what did you do?” He pointed toward her face. “You always pushed me away. You knew I loved you and you even used my feelings against me.” He took a deep, gulping breath. “I was tired of being your fucking lap dog, Kathryn!” He spat her name with anger. “I was feeling like the laughingstock of the ship, so when Seven showed an interest in me, and asked me to dinner, I said yes.” He hesitated, trying to cool his anger. “It was nice to be the object of someone else’s interest, for a change.”

He pulled the bottle from her grip and took another swig. “I moved on, Kathryn.” He rasped her name as he shoved the now almost-empty bottle back into her hands. “I thought that was what you wanted.” He growled and stood, wobbling on his feet. “I’m done with this conversation.” He turned and moved toward the door. “Let me know when you learn how to feel something, again.” 

She threw the bottle at his retreating figure. He was lucky she was drunk; her aim was off and it sailed past his head to crash into the wall. “I love you, you sonofabitch! I have for seven fucking years!”

He stopped.

Turned.

And advanced back toward her with a speed she was surprised he still had, as inebriated as he was. 

She found herself trapped between him and the wall. “Were you ever going to tell me?” he growled against her face.

That was a good question. The answer was: Probably not. What she told him was completely different. “I’ve been telling you the whole time, you obtuse idiot!” Kathryn pushed away from him, stumbled over her skirt again and cursed. She lifted the material and swept it away from her feet. “It was in every touch I gave you! I sure as hell didn’t pat Tom Paris on the chest at every opportunity.”

Kathryn swayed a bit as the bubbly alcohol started to go to her head, fueled no doubt by her anger. She lashed out and pointed: “Who the fuck was in Sickbay every time you woke up from crashing yet another one of my goddamned shuttles?” Kathryn took a breath. “I can tell you who it wasn’t!” She reached for the back of a chair for balance. “It wasn’t Seven of fucking Nine!”

She silenced for a moment, as her throat clenched, and she could feel tears pricking in her eyes. Kathryn pursed her lips and lowered her lids. “You clearly didn’t notice that our work dinners comprised of flowers and slow jazz music and fucking candles! I mean, I did that for Tuvok when we had our business dinners!” She laughed bitterly and sat, hard, in a close chair. “Oh! Wait! No, I didn’t. It was just for you! I didn’t tear apart my useless replicator for just any…” She stopped talking as he rushed at her, grabbing her upper arms and pulling her up into a deep kiss.

She stilled for a moment, in surprise; relaxed into the kiss, for a moment; then remembered she was mad at him and pushed away. He kept a tight hold on one arm.

“Unhand me, you…” she stumbled as he started dragging her toward the door. “Where are we going?” She tried to pull her arm from his grasp, “Chakotay! Let me go... mpph” Her words muffled as he tucked her under his shoulder and clasped his hand over her mouth.

“Kathryn, shh!” he ordered as he walked her along.

He was kidnapping her.

The man that she’d trusted with her life was kidnapping her. Why does this shit always happen? She renewed her struggles, and he almost tripped over her dress. Good. She hoped he’d break his neck.

“Mmphh—hpph—hyy” She tried to pull his hand away from her mouth as they both stumbled down the hall. Why was this damned hall empty? There’s a party happening, where was everyone? She kicked out, even as she clung to his back to keep on her feet, while they walked briskly.

He stopped at one of the swinging doors that led to the crowded ballroom. What the hell was he up to? She didn’t want to think the worst, but it was looking bad. Granted, he was just as drunk as she was, and probably wasn’t thinking with a clear head. She tugged again at the hand over her mouth. Whatever he was up to, she had to talk him out of it. “Mpphh!”

He eased the door open, only peeking in and not revealing the angry - and now very confused - woman in his arms. “Psst!” he gestured at someone, trying to get their attention. 

He moved clear of the door and said to her: “Be quiet. Stay calm.”

Stay calm? “Mpphh rrr uuumpppng,” she mumbled against his palm and renewed her struggles. His head was back through the door. Now, she could hear him whispering to someone. 

After a moment, Admiral Paris slid through the door and took in the situation with widening eyes. Chakotay stepped away, with her still in his arms. “First, this is not what it looks like,” he assured the elder Paris.

Kathryn stood as straight as she could and turned to give her captor a fiery look that stated: _Give me a fucking break._ Please don’t buy that Owen. She mumbled more than a few curses against the warm hand and, again, tried to push out of his arms.

The man nodded. Was he smirking? Kathryn’s shoulders dropped. Some family friend he was.

“Can we go to your office and talk?” Chakotay asked the admiral, as if he was inviting the man to tea. Kathryn gave the idiot a swift kick in the ankle and renewed her struggling with vigor.

“Ow! Kathryn!” Chakotay stumbled over her kick.

Through all this, the liquor was going to her head and her stomach. At this point, she was praying she threw up all over Chakotay’s tux. It would serve the man right for pulling this after what she just admitted. 

With what felt like the longest walk in history, but was only just a few doors down, they turned into another corridor and then stepped into the darkened office of Admiral Paris.

“Close the door and hide anything that could be a weapon,” Chakotay warned.

“Why?” Paris asked, confused. As confused as she was, at this point.

“Because I’m letting her go and she’s a little feral, right now.”

Feral?! She’d show him how feral she could be.

He let her go and stepped back. She came out swinging.

Kathryn wheeled on him, shoved him away with both hands on his chest, and let him have it with verbal guns blazing. “Are you out of your god-damned, mother-fucking mind?”

“Probably so, Kathryn!” he answered, then looked up at the Admiral. “Marry us.”

“What?” Admiral Paris asked.

Kathryn just started laughing. She laughed for several minutes before she stopped and the fire returned. “Oh, you have completely lost it!” she yelled as she backed into the desk behind her. Her head was pounding.

“Commander, this is a little unorthodox,” Owen Paris responded, still confused. 

Chakotay’s arms slammed down at his side. “Kathryn,” he leaned over the surface she sat on, nearly tilting headfirst into her. His forehead slammed into hers and he mumbled an “ow, dammit”

Now, her headache was a lot worse. She shoved him back, “Chakotay, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here, but I’m not interested. Go play with your blonde.”

“Kathryn, I love you.” He dropped to his knees, because the angle of him standing and her sitting was playing as much havoc with his stomach as it was with hers. “You love me. We’ve loved each other this whole time.” He gestured at himself. “I’m not your first officer, anymore. You’re not my captain of Voy’ger anymore. What’s holding us back now?”

She scooted down to his level, nose to nose with him, and looked him in the eye. “You’re serious.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her forward. “I’ve never been more serious, Kathryn Janeway.” He shook his head, his forehead dragging much gentler against hers. “I’m sorry about Seven, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I know what you were thinking with,” Kathryn threw back.

Chakotay lifted his head and tapped her nose with his index finger. “That’s just the thing, Kathryn. I always aimed those thoughts at you,” he told her. “I used to watch you walk across the bridge and lean against the railing, behind Tom, and I’d imagine myself walking up behind you and…”

A throat cleared. “There is still an Admiral in this room.”

Chakotay leaned further away from her. “Sorry.” He turned his pleading, dark gaze back to hers, his fingers splayed on each side of her face. “Marry me, Kathryn. Tonight. Now.” He clenched his hands into her hair and tightened his hold. “Please.”

Kathryn closed her eyes. Why must she make this decision while drunk? She opened her eyes, looked into his earnest face, and saw open love and adoration in his gaze. A look she hadn’t seen him give her in a long time. She leaned against him, again, and breathed a heavy sigh. “Okay. But I better not regret this in the morning.” She stood. “If I remember it.”

He rubbed against her body as she stood. “Oh, you’ll remember it.”

“Admiral ...” came another tired reminder, from behind them.

Kathryn rolled her eyes as she turned to meet her old friend. “Okay, marry us.” She felt Chakotay wrap his arms around her, from behind, and pushed her elbow back into his stomach. “Before I change my mind.”

Admiral Paris regarded them both. “I will only do this on one condition.” He waited until he had their attention. “I’ll marry you, tonight, against my better judgement, as drunk as you both are. But, I will not undo this if you regret it, tomorrow.” He lowered his lids. “For better or worse, you’re stuck with each other.”

“I’m okay with that,” Chakotay said.

Then Kathryn remembered: “Wait!” She turned to her soon-to-be intended. “What about Seven?” she poked his chest. “You better not still be seeing her.”

“Kathryn, we didn’t even make it to Earth.” He slapped his hand on his own chest. “What do you take me for?”

She cocked her head sideways. “Do you want me to answer that, my warrior?”

“That’s not fair.”

Kathryn heard laughter from behind her and turned to find Owen Paris, sitting on the edge of his desk, regulation book in hand, and laughing. “What?”

He pointed. “You two deserve each other as much as Tom deserves his B’Elanna.”

“I’m not sure that’s a compliment, Owen.”

He stood, still laughing. “Katie, your father would have liked this one, a lot.” He then leveled his gaze at the very drunk man standing - well, swaying - behind her. “Even if he is an ex-fugitive.”

“Not anymore,” Kathryn pointed out. “I caught him.” She then started laughing at her own joke.

“Fair and square,” Chakotay added, “if you’ll ever marry us, Admiral Parryus,” then snickered at his drunken mispronunciation. “It rhymes.”

Paris shook his head, acknowledged that his assistant slid into the room, following his call, and stepped to them, opening the book. “Okay, against my better judgement, I will do this.” He then recited the rites and married the two.

“You may now…” Kathryn started to lean into a kiss, when the elder Paris moved to stand between them. “No, wait. I have to work in this office, tomorrow. Once you two kiss, it’ll be all over and I’m not cleaning that up.”

“Me neither, uh, sirs... ma’am.”

Kathryn squinted at the fourth person who she’d just noticed was in the room. “It’s not crunch time, Ensign I-have-no-idea-who-you-are. You call me Captain.”

Paris had moved to his desk to retrieve something. He closed his desk drawer and stepped back to them. “Ensign Trout, he just witnessed your vows.” He dropped a set of keys in Chakotay’s hands. “The keys to the family vacation cabin, in Fiji. Go. Get it out of your systems. Don’t come back for six months; you’re both on leave, as of the end of debriefs, yesterday.”

Kathryn felt his gentle hand on her shoulder. “Katie, I’ll send the paperwork, tomorrow, for you both to sign, once you sober up. I don’t want you regretting this. Edward would find a way to punish me for it.”

Paris then ushered them both to a transporter pad in the corridor, outside his office. As they stepped on, Kathryn pressed a finger against her lips. “Don’t say a word to anyone. Tell Ensign Fish, too.” Kathryn moved into Chakotay’s arms. “We’ll tell when we’re ready.”

Paris nodded. “I won’t even tell the cat.”

He stepped back, typed in the coordinates on the wall-mounted control, and Kathryn felt the tingling sensation of the transporter beam.

Chapter 2

Kathryn awoke to a pounding head and a sandpaper-dry mouth. She should have known better than to drink that much. She opened her eyes to the brightness of the room. The completely unfamiliar room.

Where the hell was she?

She smelled breakfast cooking. Then she remembered everything. Oh God. Kathryn burrowed under the covers and hoped that the next time she opened her eyes, she’d be in her own apartment. Or, better yet: still on Voyager, and in the Delta Quadrant. That she could handle.

After a bit, the smell of coffee brewing enticed her from the warm cocoon and she eased up. She noticed the dress she’d worn the previous night, draped over a chair in the bedroom; tux jacket tossed over the star-dusted, blue material. She eyed the clothes warily, trying to remember who undressed whom when they’d arrived. They. She groaned, lay back onto the fluffy pillow and rubbed her forehead.

Kathryn turned and noticed the entire wall next to the bed was windowed. Outside was a riot of flora: Green foliage; palm trees; bamboo; flowers of every color imaginable. It was stunning. She slipped from the bed and saw a white robe was laid across the foot of the plush mattress.

She put the robe on and moved to the large window. Kathryn noticed a latch and realized it led to a wide balcony. She stepped outside, into the crisp, yet warm, tropical morning. She took in several deep, calming breaths. The floral scents invaded her senses, and she felt better. Now, she could face the music. Snuggling tighter into the robe, Kathryn left the cool air and found her way to the kitchen.

Kathryn leaned against the doorway and watched the half-dressed man as he stirred something in a frying pan. Her husband. She groaned and pressed her aching head against the cool wall. “Did we really get married last night?” She turned against the wall to face him.

Chakotay smiled, moved the pan off the heat, and reached for something on the counter. He approached her with a cup in one hand. “Coffee first.”

As she took in the glorious scent of her usual morning succor, he held out a hypospray. “This is for the headache I know you have.”

She leaned her head to the side, to allow him to dispense the pain medication, then gave him a wry smile. “You’d think you know me.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t live with you for seven years, Captain Janeway, and not learn how to deal with you the morning after one of Neelix’s parties.”

She laughed, then cringed as the pain went straight to her head. “Ow.” Kathryn took a drink of the coffee and closed her eyes as the bliss of that first taste took over. She opened her eyes and met amused, dark brown eyes.

“And that is why I brought you coffee every morning,” He brought his hand up and caressed her cheek with his thumb. “If I couldn’t put that look on your face, at least something did.”

Kathryn reddened and dropped her gaze. She felt him press a light kiss atop her head, then move away. She looked back up to find he’d returned to his cooking. Kathryn took another sip of strength and inhaled deeply. Time to stop avoiding the elephant that had been standing between them for all these years.

“Chakotay. We need to talk about this.”

“I know,” he interrupted her, “but, let’s eat first. Breakfast is ready.” He dished up some eggs, potatoes, and toast. He handed her the plate and gestured with his head. “I put utensils on the table, over there.”

They sat and had a companionable breakfast. They discussed the beauty of the cabin’s surroundings and made plans to explore the area, later. Once their food was eaten, they did the dishes, laughing at memories of Voyager and settling back into their comfortable camaraderie.

After cleaning the kitchen, they moved out to the balcony that Kathryn had found earlier that morning. They soon realized it bordered the whole cabin and settled together on a wicker couch, off the living room.

“Admiral Paris probably thinks we’ve lost our minds,” Kathryn said as the gentle breeze drifted through the trees that gave them privacy.

“I don’t think it surprised him,” Chakotay said as he drifted his fingers through the auburn hair against his cheek.

She chuckled, then shook her head. “He wouldn’t have married us, if it did..” She fell silent for a moment then sat. “Chakotay. How did we go from barely speaking to married?”

He gave her a wan smile. “I guess we needed the liquid courage.”

She smirked. “We got drunk and got married. How very ‘cadet’ of us.”

Chakotay laughed at her observation. “We haven’t signed the paperwork yet, so, if you have regrets, it’s not too late,” he offered. Given that he talked her into it, he’d give her this out if she wanted.

“Has the Admiral sent it over, yet?”

Chakotay nodded. “It was on the comms terminal when I woke up. He probably sent it right after we left, last night.” He stood and moved into the cabin.

After a few moments, he returned with a PADD in hand. He handed it to her and then sat. He didn’t take her into his arms, but turned to the side and gave her space.

Kathryn activated the screen and read the letter Owen Paris sent in addition to the marriage license. As she read, she let the memories of the last seven years with this man wash over her. The good, the bad; happy times, the arguing. The sheer amount of times he’d saved her life just by being there. She couldn’t, after all this time, imagine a life without Chakotay in it.

She turned her gaze to him. “We have a lot to talk about, Chakotay. But this,” she lifted the PADD, then pressed her thumb to the space below her name, giving her confirmation, “I don’t think this is something we need to debate.” She handed him the PADD. 

The smile he gave her could have powered Voyager’s engines for an entire seventy-year trip. Without hesitation, he added his thumbprint. “I’m sending this back to Admiral Paris. Did you want to add anything?”

She smiled. “Yes. Tell Owen ‘Thank you’ and remind him not to let anyone know where we are or that we’ve gotten married.” She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “We deserve to be selfish, for once.”

Chakotay nodded, typed the message, and sent the confirmed license back to Paris. Once the message was sent, he set the PADD on the table. “You’re okay with us being married? It’s a big step, Kathryn, and one we never spoke about.”

She smiled and moved to straddle his lap. “Be honest, if we talked about it, would we have ever done it?”

He smiled and pulled her closer, “I don’t think we’d have discussed it, let alone done it.” He leaned in and kissed her. “You were pretty pissed off at me, last night.” At her raised eyebrow, he added: “Rightfully so.”

She wrapped tightly around him, “I had no right to be angry about Seven.” She looked him in the eyes. “You deserved the chance to be happy, whether it was with me or someone else. I should have been adult enough to give you that. For that, I apologize profusely. I owe Seven an apology, too.”

Chakotay cupped her cheeks with his hands and drifted his fingers through her hair. “Kathryn, I would have never been happy without you. I tried, but she wasn’t you.” Regret crossed his eyes. “Even she knew it.” He lowered his head as he lowered his hands to her thighs. “She told me she saw it in the looks we gave each other when we realized we were home.” He abruptly embraced her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t where I should have been, I can never make that up to you.”

“You’re here now, Chakotay. That’s all that matters.”

“I love you, Kathryn.” He sighed. “It’s freeing to finally say that out loud.”

Kathryn gave him a weak smile as she traced the contours of his face and drifted her fingers over his tattoo. “I’m sorry. If I…“ Her words stopped when he placed his fingers over her lips.

“It’s in the past, Kathryn.” He smiled when she kissed the fingers he held against her lips. “Let’s only think of the now, and the future we’ll have, together.” He leaned forward and replaced his hand with his lips. She opened her mouth against his, to allow him to deepen the kiss. His tongue traced her bottom lip, then slipped in to meet hers. The taste of her was intoxicating to his senses and his body reacted to finally - finally having the woman he’d been hungering for, for years, in his arms.

Kathryn tightened the embrace as she leaned into his kiss. The moment his lips met hers, her brain short-circuited and the only thing she could coherently think was: ‘Naked. Bed. Now’. She must have whispered those very words against his lips, because she felt him tighten his hold on her and then they were moving. The next thing she knew, she was being tossed onto the bed. Kathryn gave a half-screech and a half-laugh when he pounced and clambered over her. She drew her hands across his shoulders and pushed the open shirt down his arms, and he tossed it away.

Kathryn closed her eyes and threw her head back when his lips found the erogenous zone behind her ear. Kathryn whimpered as his mouth traveled achingly slow down her neck, his tongue tracing her collarbone. “I love you, Chakotay,” she breathed as his hands pulled the belt apart and opened the robe, exposing the skin of her belly. She shivered and felt goosebumps rise as her flesh reacted to the brush of his breath and the cool air.

Chakotay let his hands drift over the delicately feminine body that lay beneath him. He’d fantasised about touching this woman, in this way, for so long, that the ability to do it now was more arousing than the physical act itself. He held himself up, by his hip and elbows, and watched as Kathryn, his Kathryn - he kept saying, over and over in his mind: She was his. - reacted to his touch. Chakotay brushed aside the straps of her bra and removed the white, lace garment.

He floated the backs of his fingers over her exposed breasts and sighed. He lay his head on her chest and hummed, content at the moment to just touch her. “Kathryn, do you have any idea how beautiful you are, to me? How beautiful you’ve always been, to me?”

Chakotay lifted his head to look at her and the raw emotion and desire he saw in her calm expression erased every moment of pain and anguish he’d felt over the last seven years; of waiting for this very moment, never knowing whether or not it would happen. He smiled and lowered to kiss her again.

Kathryn couldn’t stop the tears if she wanted. She’d wanted this for so long; so long that it had become a part of her. Her hands drifted lazily over his back and neck, the feel of his skin against her was incredibly sensual. Her entire body ached with the want of him. The need for him. “Please,” she whispered, “I need you.”

“You have me, Kathryn,” Chakotay assured her as he removed her panties and tossed them, and the robe, off the bed. He moved over her and bent to, once again, capture her mouth. “You have me for the rest of our lives. I’ve been yours since the day we met, if we’re being honest here.”

She chuckled at that. “_If_ we’re being honest?” She wrapped him into her embrace, pulling him closer to her. She whispered, her voice husking deeper: “If we are being honest, that was the moment that I fell in lust with you.” Her eyes rolled back, and she pressed her head to the side to give him access to her neck. “Yes…” she moaned. “I had to stop myself from kissing you.” She sucked in a breath as the very lips she’d spent seven years fantasizing about drifted lower and captured a nipple. “Oh, gods.” She lost herself in his mouth suckling her breast. How she lived without having sex with this man for so long was a mystery. 

Chakotay gave in to his lust and let his hands and mouth worship the body he’d dreamt of for so long. His tongue circled her nipple and his teeth teased the pebbled tip, scraping the skin. Her moans of encouragement were all he needed. Gods, did she know what her voice did to him? He drifted lower, tasting, teasing, needing to feel all of her. The smell of her arousal grew stronger as he drew closer to its center. The heady musk only adding to his own arousal.

Chakotay nipped playfully at her abdomen and smiled when the muscles beneath quivered and she cried out her frustration. He drifted his nose along the dark curls at the apex of her thighs and blew on the sensitive skin just there. He felt the frustrated moan through her body and into his. He wanted, no needed, to taste her. 

The tip of his tongue snaked out and caressed the small, erect nub. She bucked at the first touch, and he felt her fingers trail through his hair as her legs opened to give him wider access. “Chakotay, please…” he heard her whisper. He nipped and then closed his lips over the delicate folds, lapping at her arousal, her want. That he did this to her, the taste of her want for him was heady and nearly his undoing.

He felt her buck beneath him and entered her with one, then a second, finger. Her answering whimper sent a bolt of arousal straight through his body. He closed his eyes and nipped at the skin on her inner thigh. Chakotay thrust his fingers as she wriggled. Her wanton moans echoed the clenching of her muscles.

Kathryn felt her release edging closer and closer as she panted and arched her back. God what he was doing to her. She knew those lips, that mouth, would be the end of her,. As the orgasm crashed over her, she threw her arms out and clutched the bedsheet. Her head thrust back as she cried out the exquisite pleasure. She moaned, a mix of his name and unintelligible words. When she came down, she breathed in and reached for him, needing to feel his body over hers. “Please,” she begged, “come here.”

Kathryn wrapped him in her arms as he acquiesced to her request. She snuggled her nose deep into the crook of his neck and drifted it over his skin, damp with the sweat of his arousal. She lay back and met his eyes, darkened to black with desire, and smiled. “My compliments.” 

He snickered and nuzzled the side of her face. “You ain’t felt nothin’ yet, woman of mine.” He nipped at her jawline and drifted back down to what he now knew was a stimulating area of her neck. Her body vibrated as she mirthfully responded to his comment. He felt her urge his hip with her leg and was happy to give her what she wanted. What he wanted.

Chakotay adjusted his lower body and, with a hand, guided himself to her opening. He eased himself in, stopping every so often to allow her body to adjust to his girth, his length. Oh, Gods the feel of her taking him in, her body tight and welcoming. Chakotay balanced on his elbows, but lowered his forehead to the pillow, next to her. He smiled at her frustrated growl, when she wrapped her legs around his thighs and pushed him in to the hilt. He cradled her head between his arms and lowered to meet her lips in a wanting, gnawing kiss. She moaned into his mouth as he began to thrust his hips.

Kathryn rolled her hips and met his thrusts with equal fervor. Oh, but gods he felt divine. He filled her body as completely as he filled her soul. She mumbled words of love and passion against his lips as they moved together, their passion moving toward its crescendo; their cries melding with the sounds of the tropical forest, outside the open patio door.

Kathryn wrapped her hands around his back and clenched her nails over his shoulders as she felt another, even more intense, orgasm crash over her; wave after wave of passion moving from head to toe, through her touch-sensitive body. Her husband’s hips quickened as his release drew ever closer.

He thrust hard against her, groaning, grinding his pelvis against hers. Until, with a loud groan, he pressed hard into her, and she felt his hard shaft pulsate as he ejaculated into her eager and waiting body. With one final thrust, and extended grunt, he sank over her, well spent.

Kathryn wrapped her body around his, holding him ever tight into her warm, slick with the perspiration of their activities, body. Together, they lay, sated and happy in the consummation of years of want and desire. They lay in silence, the knowledge that this mating, this love, would be the one that would never wane.

After settling together for a few, contemplative, quiet moments, he rolled, and pulled her into his arms. “I’m never leaving this bed,” he told her with a wry grin.

Kathryn chuckled and nipped at his chest. “We may need to leave to eat something.”

Chakotay swept his hand over her body. “I have all the sustenance I need, right here.”

She laughed and balanced on her elbow. She leaned to kiss him; now that she had a taste of him, she couldn’t get enough. “I’m inclined to agree with you.” 

Chakotay moved to his back and pulled her over him. She lay, happily balanced on his chest, and pressed small peppery kisses over his collar. Kathryn settled and hummed with contentment. “I love you,” she smiled against his skin. “I will never tire of saying that. I love you.” She looked into his face. “I love you.” Her breath caught, as if it had just settled into her mind exactly to whom she was speaking. Her eyes teared, and she lowered her forehead to his. “I love you. God, I can say it now.”

Chakotay rolled and pulled her into his arms. “Kathryn, we are where we’re supposed to be, now. My life is yours, your life is mine. You are the last woman in this world, in this galaxy, that I will ever be in love with. You are my peace. The Spirits have blessed me with a life with you, and I will be ever grateful to them.”

Kathryn felt a tear roll down her cheek, “Chakotay,” she whispered, “I…” she lay her head against his chest. “I have no words to convey adequately just how much you mean to me. Your friendship, your love.” She looked up to him. “You say I’m your peace?” She smiled. “You’re my strength. My compass.” She traced his lips with her fingers. “You kept me steady, kept me going when my depression tried to make me give up. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know that I would have gotten us home.”

He took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “Kathryn, you would have gotten us home. You just needed someone to nudge you back on course every once in a while. I’m only sorry that I abandoned you at the end of our journey. I’ll spend years making that up to you.”

Kathryn shook her head. “No. You said earlier, that’s in the past. No more dwelling on it.” She smiled. “From this moment on, we look to our future.” She pressed a kiss against his lips then smiled. “And, I think, for the moment, our future consists of a shower and exploring this beautiful place.”

He smirked. “The first thing we need to do, after the shower, is get clothes.” He nodded to their formal attire from the previous evening. “Because those are the only things we arrived with, and I don’t think we want to spend the next several weeks with just those to wear.”

She grinned. “Capital thinking, Commander. We should contact Owen and sneak home to pack some belongings before coming back here.” She sat and propped herself on her hand. “I’m not planning on resurfacing for a while. After seven years of thinking about other people, I intend to spend the next few weeks thinking about myself and how damned good you look, naked and in my bed.”

Chakotay laughed. “The feeling is entirely mutual, Captain.” He sat and pulled her against him. “And I intend to keep you just as naked, and in my bed.”

Kathryn drifted her touch downward and wrapped her hand around his limp, yet firming, penis. “Exploration of our new surroundings can wait.” She rubbed her thumb over the sensitive skin. “I’d much rather explore you, instead.”

Chapter 3

3 Weeks Later

Kathryn Janeway padded, barefoot, to the formally set table - her mother would be proud - and lit the two candles that set on either side of the floral centerpiece. She was both nervous and excited about the dinner party she and her husband of three weeks had planned. Their guests would arrive within the hour, and the aroma from the cooking dinner was overtaking the house. Combined with the varied roses at the center of the table, the smell was divine.

This would be the first time, since the night of the Welcome Home Ball, that she’d seen any of her Voyager family. Kathryn blew out the flame on the long match and moved back into the kitchen, to recycle the used piece of wood. Once her hands were empty, she moved behind the man who toiled at the stove and wrapped her arms around him. “My mother always told me, ‘Katie, if you want to survive beyond a replicator, marry someone who can cook.’”

Chakotay laughed and turned in her arms. He leaned down and pressed a kiss on her nose. “I’m glad I passed Gretchen’s test.”

Kathryn stood on the balls of her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, you more than passed her test. I believe her words to me were: ‘Kathryn, if you pass this one up, you need more than your head examined.’”

“Yeah,” Chakotay lowered to give her a kiss that promised much more. Later. “I am pretty damned perfect.”

Kathryn rolled her eyes, laughed, and pushed out of his arms. “Finish your biryani, Mister Perfect. Our guests will arrive soon.”

Kathryn left the kitchen and moved to the living room of their two-story, ocean-view house. Nestled into the small mountains of Vio Island, just off the coast of Fiji, it was a peaceful place, away from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco. Exactly what two of Starfleet’s highest-profile, and most recognizable, officers needed, at this point in their lives.

She sat on the couch and slipped on the pair of silver pumps she’d set out earlier. Kathryn pushed the thin left strap of her beaded slip-dress back onto her shoulder, where it was comfortable. She decided she wanted a formal, but not overly so, dinner party, to give her two closest friends the good news of hers and Chakotay’s marriage.

The doorbell chimed and Kathryn stood to let their visitors in. She pulled open the wooden door and smiled. “B’Elanna! Tom! Come in.” She hugged the pair as they stepped inside the warm living room. Kathryn cooed over the sleeping baby in B’Elanna’s arms and Tom carried an overnight bag, as requested. The pair were staying the weekend, to enjoy a bit of freedom, themselves.

“Captain,” B’Elanna smiled as she looked around, taking in the room. She noticed a blend of familiar items along with new decor. Uh-huh. It was just as she’d suspected. She wondered when the inevitable had happened.

“It’s just Kathryn, you two.” She smiled and brushed a hank of hair behind her ear. “No rank formalities involved. I’m on leave for the next six months and intend to forget Starfleet exists in that time.”

Tom sniffed the air. “Hmm, that smells edible.” He grinned as he looked at his former commanding officer. “I know you’re not cooking that.”

She laughed. “Oh no. I don’t go near the kitchen unless I’m making coffee.” She gestured the pair further into the room.

Chakotay came around the corner, adjusting the collar of his white dress shirt. “And even then I wait for the inevitable explosion.”

Kathryn turned and gave his side a light punch. “I can push the ‘on’ button of a coffee maker, Commander.”

He smirked. “That’s debatable,” then reached to shake Tom’s hand and give B’Elanna a warm hug around the baby.

“You clearly like the couch,” Kathryn raised her eyebrow and mumbled as she turned away to lead Tom to set his and B’Elanna’s jackets, and luggage, in the den.

Once they left the room, the half-Klingon grabbed Chakotay’s left hand and asked: “So when did this happen?”

He smiled. “When did what happen?”

B’Elanna gave him an exasperated grin.

Chakotay smiled. “Kathryn asked me to cook. She didn’t want to kill her two closest friends.”

B’Elanna’s eyebrow raised and her grin became knowing. “Uh, huh.”

Kathryn re-entered the room and noticed the looks that passed between her husband and her good friend. “You may as well tell them.” 

“Not yet,” Chakotay responded. “Tom, can I see you in the kitchen for a second. I want your opinion on the spiciness of dinner.”

The tall blonde nodded and followed his former commanding officer into the other room.

“Well, that was subtle,” the young half-Klingon snickered as she rocked the squirming babe in her arms.

Kathryn nodded as her eyes followed the two men out of the room. “Mmm hmm.” Her gaze moved back to the young woman. “I do not understand what that was about.” She shrugged then extended an arm. “Let’s move to the couch. I’m sure she’s getting heavy.”

Once the pair were on the couch, the younger of the two sat back and, with a knowing grin, said: “All right, out with it. I’m not blind.” She gestured around the room with her head. “It’s obvious that the two of you are living together. On an island, in the middle of the Pacific.” She smirked. “If you wanted us to leave you alone, you could have just said so. No need to go to this extreme.”

Kathryn laughed. “We just wanted privacy. Not from our friends, but from the media, from outside the family.”

The young woman reached and took her former Captain, and now mother-figure’s, hand. “You know we’ve all been expecting this and you have our full support. All of us Voyagers will be more than happy to run interference for you.”

Kathryn chuckled, then turned when he heard the two men approach.

“Dinner is ready,” Chakotay announced. He told B’Elanna that she could create a bed of pillows on the couch, to lay the infant down, while she ate. 

Soon, the quartet had sat and were enjoying the vegetable biryani that Chakotay had cooked. While eating, they reminisced about Voyager and their journey; reliving happy memories, relating funny stories. The mood was jovial and relaxed.

Dinner was soon over, and the hosts replaced the dinner dishes with dessert and after dinner wine, tea for the nursing mother. With a subtle nod to Kathryn, Chakotay cleared his throat. “I’m not sure if you’ve figured it out yet, but,” he reached and took his wife’s hand, “Kathryn and I are married.” He smiled at his dearest friend’s outburst of: “I knew it!”

The absence of reaction from Tom Paris, of all people, piqued his former captain’s curiosity. She gave him a look. “You knew, already.” At his quick, downward glance, she narrowed her eyes. “Did your father tell you? I made him promise not to tell.”

“My dad?” Tom asked.

She nodded. “Yes. Owen married us. We made him promise not to tell a soul.”

Tom shook his head, ready to defend his father, then Chakotay spoke up. “I told him.”

Kathryn turned to the man, always at her left, with a questioning gaze.

“I needed him to do me a favor,” Chakotay explained, then stood and left the room.

Kathryn’s eyes followed him as he went into the kitchen, then returned with a small box in his hand. 

Chakotay sat; opened the box; took the contents out; and turned to her. He reached for her left hand and smiled. He opened his hand to reveal three rings. A jeweled ring and two simple bands. He set them on the table and picked up the silver-white ring, topped with a stone she didn’t recognize. “I know it’s a bit too late to propose, but I had planned to do this once upon a simpler time, before things went off the charts.” He picked up the smaller band.

“I told Tom, because I needed him to retrieve the materials for me, from my storage, and take them to a jeweler to be made into rings,” Chakotay explained. “The stone in your engagement ring is a diamond-cut and polished river stone from New Earth.” He paused at her gasp and pulled her hand to his lips. He slipped the band, and then the engagement ring, on her finger, then squeezed her hand. “The rings, themselves, are made from a scrap of Voyager’s hull that I kept, hoping we’d end up here.”

“Oh, Chakotay,” Kathryn choked back a sob. She reached for the bigger band and took his left hand to slip it on his finger. She pulled his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss on the ring that now adorned his finger. “I love you, you wonderful, crazy, dear to my heart, man.”

Chakotay leaned forward and kissed her, “I love you, my wife. Always.”

They separated at the clearing throat.

B’Elanna lifted her glass. “To the best friends I’ve ever had. I just want you to know that the entire crew could see this coming, years ago, and, on behalf of our Voyager family, it’s about damned time!” She then looked at her own husband. “You kept a secret. I’m impressed.”

They finished their dessert and retired to the patio that surrounded the house. Kathryn had liked the one at the Paris cabin so much, it had been one thing they looked for in a house, when they’d decided to buy in the islands. The door was kept open so they could hear little Miral should she wake up.

As they settled in the warm, clear evening, the sound of the ocean waves breaking on the beach below, the four spoke of the past, present, and future while sharing a bottle of wine.


End file.
